Guest Commentary
by Michael A. Schwartz
On February 18, over 250 citizens showed up at a Carlsbad Planning Commission meeting to support small business owner Lisa Gunther with her plan to open an indoor shooting range. She also owns the building that houses her existing gun store on Loker Avenue in Carlsbad. Lisa submitted all the required paperwork to the city for her recreational use project, but City Planner Don Neu denied her application. Lisa was forced to appeal to the Carlsbad Planning Commission.
A recent article in the Coast News does a great job with the basic facts, but doesn’t begin to tell the real story.
Outrageous Claims & Tortured Reasoning From Carlsbad’s Assistant City Attorney and City Planner
Most would agree that a city attorney’s job is to give unbiased legal advice to the city. That didn’t happen in Carlsbad. Here’s what did happen:
At the administrative level, City Planner Neu refused to give Gunther a minor conditional use permit (MCUP) because he believes that an indoor shooting range is not a permitted “recreational” use. Section 21.34.010(1) of Carlsbad’s Municipal Code allows “…flexibility for other select uses (i.e. athletic clubs/gyms, churches, daycare centers, recreational facilities, etc.)…” in planned industrial zones. City staff emphasized that this section of the city’s code was “the focus of the appeal tonight.”
Assistant City Attorney Jane Mobaldi asserted, however, that the commissioners were to decide whether an “abuse in discretion” by the city planner occurred and thus changed the focus of the appeal.
When asked to explain his decision-making process, City Planner Neu said an indoor shooting range is “unique” and that it is not exclusively used for recreation. He contended further that there is a safety concern due to exposure to lead. Neu claimed that lead exposure makes a shooting range different from the other recreational businesses in the zone—businesses like indoor go-cart racing tracks, an indoor ice skating rink, or a swimming pool—because of the safety threat it poses.
City Planner Neu went on to say an indoor range isn’t recreational and if Carlsbad wanted an indoor shooting range, the city would have listed that use in the municipal code. Interestingly, however, the other businesses he mentioned are not explicitly listed. Also, these other unenumerated recreational uses have well-known issues with very toxic and dangerous chemicals. The go-cart tracks, rink and pool somehow received Carlsbad’s approval in the past, however.
Split Decision By Carlsbad’s Planning Commissioners After More Outrageous Claims & Tortured Reasoning
The commissioners had a chance to comment. Commissioner Marty Montgomery described the literature and research provided by the city staff, reams that ostensibly supported the denial of Gunther’s range, as feeling like a “scare tactic.” Commissioner Montgomery went on to question if the city planner’s determination was “arbitrary” and asked if there were the same concerns with the indoor go-cart track and indoor pool that were mitigated as a condition of approval.
I reviewed the pages and pages of lead exposure articles supplied by city staff and now wonder why all the talk about lead or OSHA requirements, if the indoor range simply did not fit into the zoning regulations as City Planner Neu determined? None of this was the basis for denying the MCUP, which ruled specifically that indoor ranges are not a “recreational” use.
Could it be that Neu searched for extra appeal-denying reasons to bolster his position?
At this point in the hearing, Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi interjected to “guide the commission” by telling them the members are “not debating the pros and cons or polling people to see how many people like ranges versus people who do not.” Mobaldi said the commission merely was to decide whether his Neu’s determination was supported by evidence. Any benefit of the doubt had to be in favor of the city planner’s determination, Mobaldi advised.
Commissioner Montgomery continued to push and asked why an indoor shooting range is unique compared to an ice skating rink. City Planner Neu explained that an ice skating rink and an indoor pool do not have the same types of “known hazards” and “environmental hazard.”
Any high school chemistry student in attendance could easily refute that claim. But, again, why make that claim if this case is simply about whether a shooting range is a permitted recreational use in the planned industrial zone?
As Commissioner Montgomery started making some real traction as to the real reasoning, Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi interrupted, “We are not debating with the city planner the pros and cons of a shooting range, but was there evidence at the time he made it.” And that she “wants to focus on whether or not there was basis for his decision.”
Commissioner Neil Black commented, “I think we can all recognize that a shooting range is used for recreation.” His statement was met with applause from the audience. Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi responded to his comment, “It’s not precluded, but it must be allowed or it is banned.” The “free market” does not decide nor does a “vote of the people,” Mobaldi opined. She went on to say the existing indoor shooting range that the City of Carlsbad currently maintains and operates “wasn’t approved as a recreational facility; it was approved as a governmental facility.”
So according to Mobaldi and city staff, Carlsbad’s city government can have a gun range that is full of dangerous lead contaminants, but ordinary people cannot?
Commissioner Montgomery asked for clarification regarding voting against the city planner’s determination. He pointed out that the wording in his packet said the planning commissioners could vote against the city planner’s determination if they believed he made an error, not merely because they believed he has abused his power. Until then Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi had advised the commissioners that they could overrule Neu’s decision only if he “abused his discretion.” Mobaldi, when pressed, agreed that the word “error” was a part of the standard for finding a basis upon which to uphold Lisa Gunther’s appeal.
Commissioner Jeff Segall asked for clarification because he found what they were voting on was “confusing.” Mobaldi explained that the vote by the commission was whether the city planner’s determination was an “abuse of discretion,” again leaving out the “error” part.
Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi’s omission caused something to happen that I have never witnessed in a city meeting. The entire crowd in unison and out loud corrected Mobaldi all at once by saying “or error!” Mobaldi was forced to alter her direction to the commission by adding “error.” View the exchange at the three hour mark.
So, amazingly, after three hours of public meeting, Mobaldi told the commissioners that they cannot use their own judgment and that they were allowed only to decide if the city planner “abused his discretion.” The audience, sensing a manipulation by omission, had to correct her misleading direction.
Commissioner Segall later called the audience “rude” for the interruption. I strongly disagree. The crowd chimed in to stop an injustice. They were patient and polite through three hours of discussion and through 30 speakers. The intent of the crowd was not to insult or throw the meeting off, but to keep it honest. It was purely accountability. Thereafter the audience continued to be polite and orderly.
Commissioner Segall later explained that his vote against the Gunther appeal was based on Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi’s imposed narrow and limited “area of discretion.”
The discussion after the vote between city staff and the commissioners leads me to believe that Segall generally is in favor of a shooting range in Carlsbad, but that he was coerced into his vote by Mobaldi’s contrived legal advice.
Commissioners Montgomery, Black and Hap L’Heureux did not allow Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi’s manipulation to deter their vote. Montgomery went so far as to describe Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi’s behavior as “strong armed.” Black said he did not “trust” city staff in this decision and declared that City Planner Neu was in “error” on this decision.
The final vote resulted in a 3 to 3 tie, but Assistant City Attorney Mobaldi was not done with her crusade! When the commissioners asked how a tie is handled, she replied that it is a denial for Lisa Gunther’s indoor range. Carlsbad’s Municipal Code defines the outcome differently:
2.24.070 – Quorum and vote.
(c) Tie votes shall constitute “no action,” and the matter voted upon remains before the commission and is subject to further commission consideration. If the commission is unable to take action on a matter before it because of a tie vote, the matter shall be again considered at the next regular commission meeting. If the matter receives a tie vote at the subsequent meeting, the matter shall be denied.
At this time, there appears to be no plan to put this issue on the agenda again in a public Planning Commission meeting in order to comply with Carlsbad’s code.
Mobaldi’s final trick was to discourage inquiring commissioners from explicitly adding indoor shooting ranges to Carlsbad’s municipal code. The commissioners dropped the issue.
The Gunther recreational shooting range remains a hope and not a reality.
Next Steps and Call to Action
Lisa Gunther is undaunted and moving forward to win approval of this project. Her appeal has already been filed. There will be at least two city council meetings before Lisa can open her range. One council meeting will be held to overturn or uphold the 3-3 vote by the Planning Commission and then another meeting to approve or deny a permit for the indoor range.
If you live or work in Carlsbad and support an indoor shooting range, please email Lisa Gunther at lisa@gunthergifts.com or stop by her shop. If you care about Second Amendment rights, email me at GOCSchwartz@gmail.com. We have a lot of persuading to do and need your help to make government work for us.
Judging by the emails, texts, social media comments, and conversations I have had, Carlsbad’s assistant city attorney’s behavior has shined a white-hot spotlight on Carlsbad’s city government. Is this issue about guns? It didn’t start that way. If it is now, it is because Carlsbad’s staff made it about guns due to their own personal biases and agenda. This isn’t fair to business owners like Lisa Gunther and it is a wrong we hope to see righted at a future council meeting by Mayor Hall, Councilmembers Wood, Schumacher, Blackburn, and Packard.
A lady I met for the first time that evening put it best when she walked out of Carlsbad City Hall saying, “You don’t think you need to pay attention to this stuff until you see something like this, and now I wonder why I’ve never paid attention before.”
*****
Schwartz is the Volunteer Regional Coordinator for Gun Owners of California
Comments 28
“So according to Mobaldi and city staff, Carlsbad’s city government can have a gun range that is full of dangerous lead contaminants, but ordinary people cannot?”
Makes perfect sense to me. I have always believed the folks in government are a cut above everyone else. I was against the American Revolution as well.
Disappointing result. Hopefully the Carlsbad City Council will do the right thing and correct the city planner’s “error.”
I was in attendance as well and Mr. Schwartz’s description is spot on. The Assistant City Attorney did her best to try to influence the proceedings. The 30 speakers as well as a few Commissioners clearly debunked City Planner Neu’s reason for denying the Use Permit. Lastly, the attendees were not rude and it appeared to me the most rude person in attendance that evening was the Assistant City Attorney.
I was glad there were very few young people at the meeting. It would have been bad for them to see how poorly government functions.
Mr Schwartz is spot on concerning the meeting. I was there.
I was also there and spoke, and this story lays a lot of what happened out for those not in attendance, but interested in what played out.
I think many of us were a bit surprised when we found out – thanks to the city attorney – why we were all there and what was going to be voted on. The vote was not going to ever be on whether a conditional use permit should be granted, the vote was always going to be about whether the city planner made an error. And with the way the city attorney chose her words very precisely – which is why the crowd got agitated 3 hours in as it was clear she picked precise wording to make the commissioners feel pressure to say a colleague made an error, a colleague sitting at the table with them, a colleague some consider a friend – she confused the issue enough and raised the pressure level enough even commissioners were confused as to what they were voting on and what a yes/no vote meant.
And for the record, assuming 250 people attendance is correct – and note even council members expressed surprised at the turnout – and of those 250 maybe 50 or so of us spoke, there was only 1 not favorable speaker at the end of the comment time.
Anyway, the issue is not dead yet. I, for one, walked away feeling positive all in all and was because some of the opinions and statements made by 3 of the commissioners made it clear (1) there is no reason this should not be allowed and so (2) the door IS open to get this done. It is just going to take the right set of steps.
Edited a comment above. To clarify, this was a planning commission meeting, not a city council meeting. The difference is important. The city counci members answer directly to the citizens.
Thank you GK.
I counted the people in attendance and stopped counting at 250. There were many outside who couldn’t get into the building. There were 30 speakers.
1 was against and he was worried about parking.
Gunthers has 17 parking spaces and an indoor range would attract customers after 5 and on weekends (which is off hours for all their neighbors.) Traffic and parking is not a problem or concern.
There are a lot of ex-military and military reservists living in Carlsbad and neighboring cities. With the possibility of war on the horizon, having a business that keeps our warriors shooting skills sharp will save lives.
UPDATE:
http://carlsbad.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=carlsbad_e3865acad8e89e87cd023727136a38d7.pdf&view=1
Above is the link to the official minutes of the Planning Commission meeting posted on the Carlsbad city website. For those who were on the fence about the idea that the staff is attempting to manipulate against Lisa Gunther, this might push you over the top.
Over 250 people showed, 27 of them spoke, 18 of them were either Carlsbad residents or owned a business in Carlsbad, and there was 1 person in all of that who opposed the approval.
The official minutes posted on the official Carlsbad city website that were drafted by Carlsbad staff includes ONLY the testimony by the one person who opposed.
Unreal.
Jane Mobaldi is an embarrassment to the City Attorney’s Office. I had the misfortune of working with her for several years and can honestly say she is one of the most incompetent attorneys I’ve ever dealt with. How and why she was ever appointed Assistant City Attorney for any city is beyond me.
I think the citizens of Carlsbad should demand the use of the police range. They paid for it with their tax dollars.
San Diego PD allows its citizens to use the PD range.
We often rail here against Democrat politicians (and rightly so)! But over the years I’ve been too often disappointed by REPUBLICAN office holders.
In this case, Republican city council members opposing the basic right of a business to operate a legal enterprise because some folks are uncomfortable with firearms within miles of their homes is reprehensible.
Democrats should get a pass — they at least operate at expected in such circumstances. But these Republicans need “outing.”
And a special note should be made that these Republicans apparently condone the outrageous official city staff minutes of the meeting (as described by Michael Schwartz), noting ONLY the sole opponent to the firing range, while omitting the testimony of numerous supporters.
Could someone (Michael?) list here on SDRostra the city council critters — their names and party affiliation? I’d like to “share” that with others. And I’d like to remind my fellow Lincoln Club members of these incumbents’ behavior when endorsement time (with funding) comes around again (the season has started).
Matt Hall is the mayor and was endorsed by the Lincoln Club. More than one Lincoln Club member reached out to him to express their support for this range. I am told they got no response. Hall is registered as a Republican.
Michael Schumacher, Mark Packard, and Lorraine Wood all voted against the indoor recreational range.
Council Member Keith Blackburn was the lone vote in favor and should be rewarded and thanked.
Hall, Packard and Schumacher were all endorsed by the Republican Party (http://www.sandiegorepublicans.org/endorsements.html)
Wood lists membership in the Lincoln Club on her official city website (http://www.carlsbadca.gov/cityhall/officials/council.asp)
Thanks, Michael. I’ll likely post something on this.
Wood and Blackburn are up for re-election. Mayor Matt Hall is already drafting a candidate to face Blackburn
I shared this Rostra article extensively with Facebook “friends” and groups. Here’s my accompanying comment:
The city of Carlsbad, with a GOP mayor and city council, has refused to allow a lawful business to operate within its city limits. Some of the effete Carlsbad residents are uncomfortable with an INDOOR shooting range within miles of their home — even in a commercial office park. The busybodies got their way — with the city council rejecting the permit, even though it clearly fit city guidelines.
What’s particularly annoying is that the city lied in the minutes of the city hearing on this. 250 people attended, overwhelmingly in support. 27 spoke in favor of allowing the gun range,18 of whom were Carlsbad residents and/or business owners. Only one spoke in opposition. Yet the minutes quoted only the lone opponent — no quotes from any of the supportive speakers.
Apparently the city staff is quite comfortable with such dishonesty. They know that the majority of the city Republican politicians will support such shenanigans in official documents — indeed WANT such dishonesty.
Republican Mayor Matt Hall opposed the gun range. As did Republican city council critters Michael Schumacher, Mark Packard and Lorraine Wood.
Council Member Keith Blackburn (R) was the lone vote in favor. He should be rewarded and thanked. BTW, Mayor Hall reputedly is already drafting a candidate to run against Blackburn.
Successful California Republicans–i.e., the kind that get elected–are nearly always liberals. It won’t be long before all of them are.
Craig, I know what you are saying, but it is a little too broad. To name a few:
Poway School District Zane
Lakeside Water Board Hilliker
Mayors Wells, Vaus, Desmond, Voepel
Council Members McNelis, Rigby, Sherman, Bailey
Assembly Member Jones, Waldron
CA Senator Anderson
County Supervisor Horn
I could go on, but here is a handful of non-liberals just in San Diego County at every level of government. Sitting back on the old “you have to be liberal to get elected in California” is an excuse for the lazy to stay uninvolved. Don’t give it more life.
It is definitely not an excuse for Republicans to act liberal once in office.
T.J. Zane got elected because he received the endorsement of the Teachers’ Union. He got that endorsement by promising “not to rock the boat.”
Big jump from gun range politics in Carlsbad to school board politics in Poway, but okay, I’ll roll with it. I and others believe I got elected for more reasons than just simply having received the local teachers’ union endorsement, but you’re entitled to your beliefs too, Hypocrisy. For what it’s worth, folks should know/understand that the Poway Federation of Teachers is not your typical teachers’ union… to explain why in greater detail here would be too large of a digression. Suffice it to say, I never made promises to anyone “not to rock the boat” if elected. Call me crazy, but in one of the best school districts in the state (and I challenge others to compare Poway Unified’s performance to other similarly-sized school districts across the country) I see no value in rocking the boat to the point of capsizing, as others would have me do. Government officials at all levels should be reasoned and measured, not knee-jerk ideologues whose reactionary impulses would have them READY, FIRE, AIM… to use an analogy aimed at getting back to the original topic of this post. For the record, if I were on the Carlsbad City Council, I would have voted in favor of the shooting range. tjz
I’m encouraged by the Real McCoy’s when I see them, Michael. But, given the appalling ignorance of succeeding generations/the region’s changing demographics, I don’t think there will be many in the future.
As I pointed out to Craig Maxwell, that “liberal” tendency is much more frequent among COASTAL Republicans (and their elected representatives). Look at Michael’s list above, and you’ll note a pronounced tendency to find GOP conservatives inland. Does it have something do with salt air?
I’m all for the more liberal stances on PERSONAL freedoms, but it seems to me ALL Republicans across the GOP spectrum should be strong limited government advocates when it comes to ECONOMIC freedoms. Sadly, ON AVERAGE, our coastal Republicans are the worst in this aspect.
There’s always Ginger Marshall in Solana Beach. Kern, and Feller are pretty strong on economic freedom issues up in Oceanside too. I agree though; Coastal Republicans could learn a thing or two from reading “The Law”, by Bastiat
Richard Bailey is surrounded by coast.
The exceptions (the free market/fiscal watchdog coastal Republicans) are welcome, sadly stand out as exceptions. Would that they were instead the rule, along our balmy coastline. And yes, “balmy” has more than one meaning.